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$20,182

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The Earth is warming. The waterways are polluted. Our bodies are poisoned by invisible radioactive particles. We’re pretty much DOOMED!

Enter New Jersey’s greatest (filthiest?) hero as he invades DC to finally drain the swamp and save us all from ourselves. He is… THE TOXIC AVENGER!

For the first time in their 20 year history, the award-winning company Rorschach Theatre is breaking new (unpolluted) ground by staging its first musical, THE TOXIC AVENGER! based on the cult classic Troma film.

Melvin Ferd, the Third, wants to clean up Tromaville, the most polluted town in New Jersey (Exit 13B off the Turnpike). Foiled by the mayor's bullies, Melvin is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to reemerge as The Toxic Avenger, New Jersey's first superhero. Affectionately known as Toxie, our new hero is a seven-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark. Toxie's out to save New Jersey, end global warming, and still find time to woo the town’s beautiful blind librarian.

THE TOXIC AVENGER! is the kind of story we love to tell at Rorschach: It challenges us to stage the “impossible” and it prompts audiences to consider a broad problem without proselytizing - all while immersing the audience in a fun, stylish aesthetic.

Plus, we have a thing for making monsters like vengeful ghosts, talking frogs, jelly monsters, and giant hogs … And unforgettable musical moments from magical drag queens, underworld dwellers, and dance-fighting fairies …

But, the best part of TOXIC AVENGER … we get to do it with YOU!

Here’s what we’re asking for: $20,000 for 2020 for our 20th season. Has a nice ring to it, right?

We’re requesting a $20,000 collective investment from our friends, fans, and community to kickstart TOXIC AVENGER’s Washington DC debut in February 2020. Your investment will support fees for our artists and musicians, as well as production costs and space rental at the Silver Spring Black Box. And because you are helping us raise about 50% of the total production costs, we are matching your investment dollar for dollar.

In addition to our endless gratitude, perks for joining up with TEAM TOXIE could include ...

* A backstage meet and greet with the cast!

* T-shirts and FREE tickets!

* The prop of your choice from the show -- an original, not a replica!

* Subscriptions to our 20th anniversary season - a season that includes a world premiere and a revival of our wildly popular 2014 hit - SHE KILLS MONSTERS!

With your help, we can create a milestone production for this milestone year: the first Rorschach musical for our 20th anniversary season. And maybe, with the help of Toxie, we can change more than New Jersey (and D.C.) … maybe we can even change the world.

Risks and challenges

Making theatre is risky. Making a musical is extra risky. Making your first musical is so risky that we can’t do it alone.

We’ve assembled a terrific team, led by the Helen Hayes Award winning Tracy Lynn Olivera - a veteran of DC and New York Stages, including a run of Ragtime on Broadway - but like most independent theatre companies, Rorschach also relies on a different kind of team.

Today we’re calling on all the fans to make this magic possible. Whether you’ve been a fan of Rorschach since our earliest days or a fan of Toxie since before he was green, Rorschach Theatre needs you! Our company fosters a community who care about our work to keep our doors open with mind bending theatre waiting on the other side. According to American Theatre Magazine, ticket sales only cover about 35% of expenses for small non-profit theatres like Rorschach. That means that in order to create thrilling theatrical experiences, we need to match more than 50% of our expenses with investments like yours.

This mad show presents unique (and exciting) challenges for us that come with more expenses that ever before. To bring TOXIC AVENGER to life in all its radioactive, hair- metal-meets-broadway glory, we will need to hire musicians; pay for music rights; design and build a full super-mutant transformation; and have more rehearsal time than we usually need. These are the kind of artistic & administrative knots we love to untie, but we need more resources to ensure that what unravels fulfills all your wildest TOXIC AVENGER fantasies.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 200 or more
About US$ 200

CLEAN UP AN OIL SPILL

All the perks of the $100 level / AND TWO PREMIUM TICKETS ... you tell us the performance date of your choice and we will reserve premium seating for you and a friend… or your co-worker that hates musicals and you really want to torture them.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,000 or more
About US$ 1,000

SAVE NEW JERSEY

all the perks of the $500 level / AND YOU GET TO COME TO OPENING, SEE BACKSTAGE, AND HANG WITH CAST (And get a picture with Toxie) you'll get a backstage tour led by the director or producer and you will generally be treated like the backstage superstar that you are.

Also!! GET A PICTURE WITH THE TOXIC AVENGER HIMSELF IN FULL COSTUME AND MAKEUP...